Eyeglass construction



'- July 7, 1936. SUNDSTRQM 2,046,706

EYEGLASS CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 13, 1935 INVENTOR [var flwnelsirom BY QM amw ATTORN EYS Patented July 7, 1936 2,046,706

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EYEGLASS CONSTRUCTION Ivar Sund strom, Attleboro, Mass., assignor to Bay State Optical Company, Attleboro, Mass, a corporation of Maine Application October 13, 1933, Serial No. 693,417 3 Claims. (CI. 88-53) This invention relates to an eyeglass conlimited but it is also further weakened by a struction. hole or the like which extends through the lens One of the objects of this invention is to proto accommodate a pin for securing the lens vide an eyeglass construction of economical strap to the lens. Thus it becomes clear that a 5 manufacture and of ready assembly while revery slight strain may fracture the lens, causing 5 quiring a minimum amount of labor. Another the wearer considerable inconvenience and exobject is to provide a construction of the above pense. Notable among the many forces causcharacter which is light, comfortable in use, ing strains to which the lens edge is subject, are and of pleasing appearance. Another object is those forces resulting when the temples are un-,

to provide a simple construction of the above folded into their open position as mentioned 10 character which is graceful in appearance and above. The natural leverage generated will yet of great strength and durability. Another tend to force the endpieces forwardly of the object is to provide a construction of the above lens and exert bending strains on the lens area character in which the various strains and immediately adjacent the lens strap. Also,

forces normally imparted to the lenses are abwhen the temples have been placed in open po- 15 sorbed and negatived before they damage the sition,it very frequently occurs that the temples lens. Other objects will be in. part obvious and are sprung outwardly still farther causing the in part pointed out hereinafter. 1 temples to bow and exert considerably more The invention accordingly consists in the leverage'on the endpieces than that ensuing features of construction, combinations of ele--' when they are being pivoted. Part of the 20 ments and. arrangements of parts as will be strain engendered by this increased leverage is exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter absorbed by the resiliency of the temples themdescribed, and the scope of the application of selves, but the major portion of it is transferred which will be indicated in the followingclaims. to the fragile lens edge increasing materially In the accompanying drawing, in which are the risk of breakage or serious impairment of 25 shown several of the various possible embodithe lens. It, follows that the farther the spring ments of this invention, points of the temples, i. e., the part of the Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of an temples least resistant to bending, are removed eyeglass frame; from those areas, the greater will be the lever- Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of age and the ensuing strains. In addition to the 30' that portion of the frame shown in Figure 1 above ,difficulties, the further diificulty prevails in the vicinity of the endpiece; in common constructions of excessive rigidity Figure 3 is a top plan view of the' parts and resultant resistance against various adshown in Figure 2; justments which must be made when fitting the Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of frame to the wearer. One of these adjustments 35 another embodiment of myinvention, and termed angling is necessary in order that the Figure 5 is a sectional view in elevation, angle of the lenses will conform to the head taken along the line 55 of Figure 4. contours of the wearer, and, further, to pro- Similar reference characters refer to similar vide the proper lens angle for perfect vision in parts throughout the several views of the accordance with the corrections incorporated 40 drawing, in the lenses. One of the objects of this inven- As conducive to a clearer understanding of tion is to provide a construction in which these certain features of this invention, it might here difiiculties in addition to many others are effecbe pointed out that eyeglass frames and, more tively overcome in a practical manner.

5 particularly, frames of the. .rimless type are Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown an notoriously fragile in character and subject to eyeglass am having a P O l n s n and II easy breakage. Such damage is often the reconnected by a bridge l2 secured to the lenses sult of certain strains and forces exerted by the by suitable fittings generally indicated at l3 several parts which are attached to the lenses. and I4.

0 For example, the very small area in the vicinity A pair of temples are preferably connected to of the edge of the lens and the lens strap must fittings generally indicated at I! and I8 by sadsupport practically all the strains imparted dles generally indicated at H) and 20, fittings Ii thereto, as, for example, by the tendency of and I8 and saddles I 9 and 20 being substantially the wearer to spread the temples when putting similar in construction. Consequently a detailed i the frame on. Not only is 1 this area quite description of fitting I! and'saddle l9 will suffice for their counterparts, fitting l8 and saddle 20.

As more clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3, saddle l9 comprises a strap generally indicated at 2| in engagement with the edge of lens I!) and a pair of arms 22 and 23 extending over opposite surfaces thereof. Preferably a pin member 24 extends through arm 22 and. lens H3 and is threaded into arm 23. Thus saddle I9 is secured to lens l0 and is prevented from pivoting thereon about pin 24 by portions 25 and 26 engaging the edge of lens l0.

Firmly secured to strap 2|, as for example, by soldering or the like, is a substantially U-shaped resilient member generally indicated at 21 which preferably extends therefrom rearwardly of lens ID, as viewed in Figure 2. A projection 28 of resilient member 21 extends substantially in juxtaposition with the other projection 29 of resilient member 21, projection 29 being that portion of member 21 secured to strap 2|. The forward end portion 30 of projection 23 is bent inwardly toward strap 2| to limit the compression of member 21, e. g., the movement of projection 23 toward strap 2|. By thus limiting the compression of this spring member, undue distortion of the various parts and resultant weakening is practicably and effectively avoided.

indicated at 3| is 28 to lie substantially An endpiece generally secured to the projection opposite the strap 2| and preferably in registry with lens In. As more clearly shown in Figure 2, endpiece 3| has suitable ears 32 and 33 providing a pivotal connection for a temple |5 about a pin 34 which extends through ear 32, temple '|5, and is preferably threaded into ear 33. The

counter-clockwise pivotal movement of temple l5 about pin 34 is limited by a stop portion 35 of endpiece 3|.

By interposing the resilient member 21 between endpiece 3| and strap 2|, I achieve a resilient connection which absorbs any forces exerted on endpiece 3| rather than transmitting such forces to the fragile lens edge itself. Such forces naturally ensue during the unfolding of the temples into their open position and further forcing them outwardly after the stop 35 has been engaged. These forces are transferred directly to resilient member 21 which absorbs them rather than transmitting them, until the curve portion 30 abuts against the strap 2| or projection 29, after which the resiliency of the temple is ample to absorb any further strains.

A further advantage of this construction lies in providing a practical means for making various adjustments and, more particularly, angling referred to above. The angle formed by a substantially vertical plane passing through lens l0 and a substantially horizontal plane passing through temples l5 and Hi can be varied according to the circumstances encountered in fitting the wearer by slightly forcing endpiece 3| up or down according to the angle desired. This can be done without unduly distorting member 21 or impairing its usefulness nor does this angling adjustment exert any dilatory strains upon the lens itself either during or after the operation.

Referring now to Figure 4, there is shown a modification of my construction in which a lens 36 has secured thereto a saddle generally indicated at 31 substantially similar in construction to saddle |9 in Figure 2. Thus saddle 31 is secured to lens 36 by means of screw 38 extending through the lens and suitable arms forming a part of saddle 31. A substantially U-shaped resilient member generally indicated at 39 is suitably secured to saddle 31 by a projection 48 thereof which extends rearwardly therefrom. The forwardly extending projection 4| of member 39 extends in parallel relation with projection 40 and has integrally formed therewith a pair of spaced outwardly extending lugs 42 and 43, the lugs having suitable openings for receiving a threaded pin 44. Lugs 42 and 43 extend laterally at right angles and preferably substantially in juxtaposition from projection 4|, which in turn extends forwardly of the lugs to form the curved portion 45. Portion 45 is curved toward saddle 31 and acts as a stop to limit the compression of member 39. A temple 46 having a suitable stop portion 41 is pivotally secured between lugs 42 and 43 by pin 44.

Thus I achieve an integral construction, the advantages of which are many. The resilient member 39 and lugs 42 and 43 can be stamped out in any suitable manner and then bent into the preferred form. Accordingly, I avoid the time-consuming labor of soldering the various parts together and further obviate forming several parts individually. Also the inherent strength and resiliency of the resilient member 39 is retained and a most durable endpiece attachment is accomplished. It will also be clear that the angling adjustment referred to hereinabove is quite easily and readily accomplished without endangering the fitting or the lens in any way.

Accordingly, it will now become clear that by this novel construction I have located the spring point referred to hereinabove as close to the saddles H! or 31 as possible. I have thus reduced the lever arm materially by providing the resilient members 21 or 39 which will absorb substantially all strains ensuing from forces exerted in a direction indicated by the arrow A, as in Figure 1, on the temples. The proportion of the strain transmitted to the lens will thus be negligible and will be readily resisted thereby without danger of breakage. By providing the stops or abutments 35 and 45, I prevent undue distortion and weakening of resilient members 21 and 39 respectively without decreasing the strainabsorbing capacity of the spring members.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a thoroughly practical and efficient construction in which the several objects referred to hereinabove as well as many others are successfully and efliciently achieved.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention and as many changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In eyeglass construction, in combination, a lens, an end piece, a strap member substantially following a portion of the edge of said lens, a pair of member and extending in juxtaposition over the opposite surfaces of said lens, a pin member extending through said arms and said lens to secure said strap member, said arms, and said lens in related assembly, a substantially U- shaped resilient member, one projection of which is integrally related to said strap member and extends rearwardly therefrom beyond the plane of the rear surface of said lens, said arms integral with said strap of said U-shaped member, the opposite sides of said end piece being substantially spaced from the extremities of said last-mentioned projection, and said end piece being juxtaposed with respect to said strap member, both projections of said U-shaped member being substantially coextensive, and the closed end of said U-shaped member lying to the rear of the plane of the rear surface of said lens, and the free end of the projection on which said end piece is mounted being bent inwardly toward the other projection to positively limit the movement of said projections toward one another, and a temple pivotally mounted on said end piece.

2. In eyeglass construction, in combination, a lens, an end piece, a strap member substantially following a portion of the edge of said lens, a pair of arms integral with said strap member lying on opposite surfaces of said lens, a pin member extending through said arms and said lens to secure said strap member, said arms, and said lens in related assembly, a substantially U-shaped resilient member having one of its projections integrally related to said strap memher, said projection extending rearwardly therefrom beyond the plane of the rear surface of said lens, said end piece being secured to the other projection of said U-shaped resilient member and being juxtaposed with respect to said strap member, the closed end of said U- shaped member lying to the rear of the plane of the surface of said lens, means on one of said projections extending toward the other of said projections to positively limit the move-' ment of said projections toward one another upon compression of said resilient member, and a temple pivotally mounted on said end piece. 3. In eyeglass construction, in combination, a lens, an end piece, a strap member substantially following a portion of the edge of said lens, a pair of arms integral with said strap member and extending in juxtaposition over the opposite surfaces of said lens, a pin member extending through said arms and said lens to secure said strap member, said arms and said lens in related assembly, a substantially U-shaped resilient member having one projection integrally related to said strap member, said end piece being mounted on the other projection of said resilient member whereby opposite sides of said end piece are spaced from the extremities of the projection on which it is mounted, means on one of said projections extending toward the other of said projections adapted to limit the compression of said resilient member, and a temple pivotally mounted on said end piece.

IVAR SUNDSTROM. 

